The academy has refurbished a former vacant area - on the same site at Benham Sports Centre on Moulton Park Industrial Estate - which will be home to brand new state-of-art gymnastics apparatus to benefit people of all ages and abilities.

Harvey Smith, Northamptonshire Trampoline Gymnastics Academy (NTGA) performance director, said: “We are very excited to have this opportunity to expand NTGA in what feels like a very natural progression into gymnastics.

"It is something we have been considering for some time as the academy has grown to capacity in recent years and the demand continues to rise with an ever-increasing waiting list.

"We currently have around 1,000 members enjoying trampolining every week with recreational, competitive, pre-school and disability programmes and with the demand for further opportunities it is definitely the right time to expand."

The academy is well renowned nationally and internationally for producing high level trampoline athletes, including Sydney 2000 Olympian Jaime Halsey, from St James, and Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Silver medallist Andrew Stamp. But the new venture will focus on providing opportunities for grass roots participation in gymnastics, six days a week.

He added: "The results at the last two Olympic Games have really propelled the sport to the forefront and we’ve witnessed a massive spike in interest for trampoline alone, so to be able to provide more access to this amazing sport with the extra disciplines on offer is fantastic.

"We are very passionate about what we do at NTGA and our ethos will be the same as we move forward; providing a gold standard service and the opportunity for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy gymnastics, encouraging them to be the best that they can be whilst having fun and making friends.”

According to British Gymnastics there are one million people currently on gymnastics waiting lists nationally and the academy will offer a ‘Gymnastics for All’ programme, focusing on participation at fundamental levels while also providing 'improvers squads' for those wanting to progress.

Natalie Laws, British Gymnastics business support officer said: “Participation in gymnastics is increasing rapidly. Growth of British Gymnastics membership has been higher than 12 per cent each year since 2012 and in Northamptonshire we have 15 clubs with a total membership of 5,474, this has increased from 1,264 in 2012.

"This opportunity to offer gymnastics in a dedicated space will allow the club to deliver an excellent service to their existing members and develop their offer to more of the local community and it is something we fully support.”

Northamptonshire Trampoline Gymnastics Academy is a non-profit organisation and with the total project cost exceeding £50,000, the academy were recipients of a £10,000 Sport England grant which helped to bring programme to life.

The academy will begin delivering a full programme of child-friendly gymnastics classes to all members of the community from 13 May.

To register for the gymnastics programme visit www.ntga.co.uk, or contact the academy on info@ntga.co.uk or Northampton 645120 for further information.

Keith Curle feels he has had no choice but to play ‘ugly’ football at the Cobblers because he ‘doesn’t trust the players’ to carry out ‘the simple basics’ following their second defeat in a row on Saturday.

Curle and his players won plenty of praise for their recent eight-game unbeaten run but those results were largely achieved on the back of dogged, gritty performances rather than free-flowing attacking football.

Tight games against Stevenage and Newport County were won by late goals while Town also battled past Crewe, Tranmere and Exeter, in addition to draws against Lincoln, Crawley and Grimsby before recent defeats to Cheltenham and Port Vale.

Now results have taken a turn for the worse again, the style of football has been questioned by some supporters, understandably, but it seems Curle feels his hands are tied as the current players are either not good enough or not willing to respect the ‘fundamentals’ of the game.

“People have been saying we’ve played ugly but we’ve had to play ugly because I don’t trust the players to go and get on the ball and pass and move,” he said.

“So we’ve had to go direct, get after teams and flood areas. What you then find is that, when a team doesn’t do that, we come unstuck because we’re not as good at ball manipulation and getting it down and passing it.

“It’s a very simple game but unfortunately we have a changing room there that do not focus on the simple things and before we go onto the next level, we have to make sure the starting point is right.

“To be honest, we’ve been working on things in training and we’re not good at it. We’re not good enough at getting the ball down and passing and moving, the simple basics.”

Curle’s comments are unlikely to go down well with his players but that doesn’t faze him. He added: “I don’t need to fall out with players but I’ll show them where the bus stop is.

“We’ll be back in at 9am and we will look at the videos and we’ll do the fundamentals of football - pass, move, pass, move, appreciation. If you ignore those things, you cannot turn the page.

“If you get a team that don’t want to get on the ball and don’t want to receive the ball and help the person on it, you become very static and that’s what we became on Saturday.”

A recent planning committee of Northampton Borough Council heard from two separate groups of residents that they felt that the communication from Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH), which manages the housing stock for the council, had been ‘poor’.

Resident Ann Brooks told the planning committee on March 19 she had 'not received any communication’ about revised plans to knock down garages next to her home in Keswick Drive in Boothville. She was backed up by ward councillor Paul Joyce, who added: “I would like to think that some residents have not been a target, but I’m concerned with what has happened in the consultation. The local community feel like they are not being listened to throughout this.”

He criticised NPH at the meeting for failing to keep him informed. He told the planning committee he had heard from NPH once in three months, despite asking to be kept updated on the application.

And residents of homes at Maidencastle in Blackthorn told councillors at the same meeting that NPH, after an initial evening meeting with residents, had gone forward with an application and had only notified a few residents ‘by email’.

Some of the councillors raised concerns at the emerging theme throughout the meeting, but NPH has defended the level of consultation in the two applications.

A spokesman said: “Consultation consisted of letters to garage licensees in the area and residents directly affected living adjacent to garage sites. In the letter we invited them to a consultation event at Eden Close Community Hub in Lakeview. We also included an offer of home visits for anyone who was unable to attend the consultation event.

“We sent a second letter out to residents inviting them to a second event. This also included the offer of home visits if they couldn’t attend.

“Feedback from the events helped inform the development of these plans. For example one of the garage sites previously designated for development was retained for garages. This was due to a concern about parking in the area. We reduced the size of some of the houses in the designs due to concerns about the overall size of the development.

“Anyone who had an existing garage on a proposed development site was offered an alternative garage if they wanted this. We mapped the distance from the garage licensees front door to the alternative proposed garage to make sure they were offered the nearest one. In some cases, these ended up being nearer than the garage they are currently renting.

“Where residents raise concern about highway safety, we followed this up with liaison to the Highways Authority. For example, with Keswick Drive concerns were raised about visibility splay. We made sure this was checked with the Highways Authority who confirmed the proposals were safe.

“One of the channels we have developed further is online, where we are now putting our early plans and designs on our website for pre-consultation before we submit an official plan to the council. This includes an online form that the public can submit direct to us and provide feedback on a development before being viewed publicly on the council’s planning portal.”

Planning officers for the borough council said the Keswick Drive application had been the subject of public consultation ‘in line with the requirements of the council’s adopted Statement of Community Involvement in respect of planning applications’.

Phil Moore reviews Sleeper at the Roadmender, Northampton

Towards the end of their ’90s run Sleeper were rather unfairly the butt of jokes, usually the SleeperBloke idea of the anonymous backing band, or that they are everyone’s 17th favourite Britpop act.

It was all a bit unfair really - in a very crowded marketplace they were undeniably a successful band, with a strong run of singles and a trio of albums

Their quiet reformation in 2017 has given them a chance to turn it back around, showing the world what they were about in the first place.

Friday’s sold-out show was a testament to the interest this revival has sparked.

But first up was Lancashire quartet The Lottery Winners, who provided decent and highly appropriate support.

Their melodic singalong indie was expertly led by frontman Tom Rylance, who possesses the northern stand-up, larger-than-life personality.

He won the crowd over to his side in about three seconds of being onstage, and he/they continued to lift the mood with songs like That’s Not Entertainment, which is about “crap telly and crap bands”.

Ones to watch out for this year, without doubt.

Arriving on stage to You Only Live Twice, Sleeper proved they really are alive again and as it turned out new album The Modern Age had hit the top 20 - no mean feat for a band no one has much thought about for a couple of decades.

The crowd roared at the sight of heartthrob and style icon Louise Wener emerging from the shadows and as the pleasing throb of Nice Guy Eddie began to emanate from the (now six-piece) band.

There’s no escaping that fact Wener was the focus this evening.

She worked the crowd like a pro, arms outstretched to take the hand of her many admirers.

The tunes they played - both old and new – were as catchy as a school-class bug.

Delicious and Lie Detector are Blondie-meets-Pixies adrenaline rushes in three minute bites - the sort of pure escapism a Brexit-weary nation is craving for.

Statuesque still sounded as mighty as it did blaring from Radio 1 in the summer of ‘96.

Pyrotechnician, the final album track from their debut album Smart, was all fiery riot grrl intensity, and went down a proverbial storm.

The songs played from new album The Modern Age fitted seamlessly into their set.

Paradise Waiting mimicked their '90s sound, while Blue Like You could have been a Morrissey single from back in the day.

The album title track and The Sun Also Rises added modern touches to their template, keyboard squelches, pace breakdowns, and more mature melodies from Wener which assuredly suited her delivery.

Before the latter there was a brief emotional Keith Flint tribute, as Wener explained bassist Kieron Pepper, a former Prodigy drummer, almost missed the show after attending Flint’s funeral.

Atomic finally had some hips swaying, though why they interjected the song with a segment of Love Will Tear Us Apart was baffling and possibly spoilt the moment.

No matter, as the final four songs - Inbetweener, and an encore of Look at You Now, Vegas, and Sale of The Century - was more than enough to permanently etch a smile on all the faces present in the hallowed sweatbox of the Roadmender.

Guitarist Jon Stewart hits some bum notes on occasion, but that’s as wrong as it went tonight.

Sleeper fully deserve this second life and hopefully will continue to entertain the crowds and release more albums as good as their well-received new one.

Sleeper played:

Nice Guy Eddie

Delicious

Paradise Waiting

What Do I Do Now?

Lie Detector

Blue Like You

Statuesque

The Modern Age

Pyrotechnician

The Sun Also Rises

Factor 41

Atomic / Love Will Tear Us Apart

Inbetweener

Encore:

Look at You Now

Vegas

Sale of The Century

On Wednesday, February 27, the woman had finished shopping at Morrison’s supermarket, off Victoria Promenade, and was approached in the car park by a man who asked if she spoke French.

A police spokeswoman said: "He said he wanted directions to Liverpool and then unfolded a map.

"While the woman was distracted by the man, a second man stole her purse from her handbag within her car."

Police believe the woman had been 'shoulder surfed' - where a thief peeks at a victim's pin number over their shoulder - while paying for her shopping, as the bank card she had used to pay was then used extensively to withdraw money from cash machines in the town.

The men pictured, or anyone who recognises them, are asked to contact Northamptonshire Police on 101, or Crimestoppers, anonoymously, on 0800 555111.

Police officers have released CCTV images of two men they wish to speak to in connection with the theft and fraudulent use of a bank card in New Post Office Square, Corby.

The incident happened in a bank on Monday, February 18, between 10.55am and 11.45am, when two men distracted another man in order to steal his bank card.

They then managed to withdraw £500 using the card.

The men in the images or anyone who recognises them should call Northamptonshire Police on 101.

Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

A schoolboy was hit by a car in Desborough.

The incident happened at about 3.40pm on Friday in Harborough Road.

The 11-year-old was taken to the University Hospital Coventry by air ambulance and police say his injuries aren’t thought to be life-changing.

Witnesses should call the police on 101.

A Northampton park is set to come alive with music this spring and summer with the return of the Bands in the Park concert.

Organised each year by Northampton Borough Council, the Bands in the Park weekly performances return this Sunday (April 7) with Moulton 77 Brass Band first up on Abington Park’s iconic bandstand.

Other bands taking part in the concerts include Marsh Gibbon Silver Band on May 5, Fynnius Fogg on June 16, Northampton Male Voice Choir on July 21, and Towcester Studio Band on August 18. Closing the season in style will be Rockin Roadrunner on September 15.

Meanwhile, a full calendar of workshops, events and talks will be held at Abington Park Museum for families to make the most of their days out at the park.

Highlights at the museum include the Spring Food Fair on April 13, the Art in the Park exhibition between May 11 and June 16, performances of the Masque Theatre’s Love’s Labours Lost between July 25 and August 3, Dog Sculpture Workshop on July 30, and Northampton’s Heritage Fair on September 14.

Councillor Anna King, cabinet member for community engagement and safety, said: “We look forward to welcoming the popular Bands in the Park concerts back to the beautiful surroundings of Abington Park this spring and summer.

“We hope that visitors will come along each week to enjoy the varied programme of performances from local bands, as well as the many events and activities that Abington Park Museum hosts each year”.

For a full list of Bands in the Park performances, visit the Northampton Borough Council website.
To find out more about the events taking place at Abington Park Museum and to make a booking, visit the museum's website.

The incredibly dangerous manoeuvre was performed by the driver of a BMW saloon in lane one of the southbound carriageway near junction 16.

Dashcam video footage shot from the car of the astonished motorist shows vehicles having to take evasive action to avoid ploughing into the boy and the BMW, which had a male driver and a woman passenger.

Unable to overtake due to constant traffic to his right, the car with the camera has to come to a complete halt behind the BMW - placing its driver in a vulnerable position.

The driver, who sent his footage to the Chron, said: "I've had to stop in a live lane of the motorway behind this mindless idiot.

"What I saw was beyond complete belief and could have easily resulted in a serious injury or even death. I was afraid the cars behind me wouldn't be able to stop in time."

The BMW then leaves the scene, driving past a turn-off for motorway services just 50 seconds later.

Fisher Stevens is back in the county to bring his tribute to Neil Diamond, A Beautiful Noise, to Royal & Derngate.

The show celebrates one of the world’s greatest singer-songwriters and will take audiences on an journey through the life and music of the icon.

Stevens and the band have enjoyed dozens of sell-out shows across Europe and the show includes the hits Love On The Rocks, Sweet Caroline, Forever In Blue Jeans, Song Sung Blue, America, Holy Holy, Red Red Wine and many more.

A Beautiful Noise is on Friday, April 5 at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £25.50 before fees and can be booked by calling 01604 624811 or online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk.

11.30am update: Trapped traffic on the Westbound M45 is now being allowed to run under the bridge in lane two only. Highways hope the motorway will reopen at 1pm.

The M45 is currently closed westbound between junction 17 of the M1 (just after Watford Gap) and the Dunchurch island in Warwickshire due to a bridge strike.

The eastbound carriageway has now also been closed heading towards Northamptonshire and the M1.

The motorway has been closed since earlier this morning after a low-loader lorry transporting a digger hit a bridge.

A tweet from @HighwaysEMIDS at 10am said: "Update - the #M45 is closed in both directions for a bridge inspection between the #M1 and #J1 #Dunchurch"

Traffic is being diverted via the solid triangle diversion symbol and drivers are being warned to allow extra time.

Continue on the M1 northbound past J17, and exit at J19. Join the free flow lane onto the M6 northbound.

Continue until J2, and then exit onto the A46. Continue passing through the roundabout with the B4082 and the roundabout with the A428 (Rugby Road) and then rejoin the A45 at Tollbar Roundabout.

Three international jazz orchestras are performing at The Core this weekend.

Following a successful continental tour in 2018, the national youth jazz orchestras of the UK (National Youth Jazz Orchestra), Germany (BuJazzO) and Holland (Nationaal Jeugd Jazz Orkest) are back on the road with Three Nations Under One Groove.

Europe’s top young jazz professionals will give audiences a taste of their distinctive national jazz dialects and a pan-European collaboration.

NYJO’s artistic director Mark Armstrong said: “An important point we want to make is about the mixed bands playing music from all three NYJO, BuJazzO and NJJO libraries showing how the various local dialects of jazz come together in the interactions between the young musicians and how this community feeling and common musical language remains vital to that generation”.

Three Nations Under One Groove is at the Corby venue on Sunday, April 7, at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £11 before fees with admission for under 18s free of charge.

To book, call 01536 470 470 or visit www.thecorecorby.com

Kate Rusby is on the road touring support of her new album which is due out in May and headlines The Lighthouse Theatre this weekend.

With a career spanning more than 25, Rusby is one of UK’s finest interpreters of traditional folk and one original songwriters.

Her singing and engaging Yorkshire wit combine for a remarkable and concert experience.

As well as previewing material from her new album, Rusby will be playing material from her extensive back catalogue.

Rusby has released 14 studio albums to date, the most recent being 2016’s Life In A Paper Boat.

As ever, she will be joined on stage by the cream of British folk musicians who form her band.

Rusby headlines the Kettering venue on Sunday, April 7.

Tickets cost £25 for adults or £18 for children.

Music is from 7.30pm. For more details, visit lighthousethetare.co.uk

Toyah Willcox is returning to the Roadmender as part of her Acoustic, Up Close & Personal tour.

The singer-songwriter will be playing an unplugged set of her best-known hits and classic songs, alongside recalling stories from her colourful, 35-year career.

From filming pop videos on horseback at 5am to acting alongside Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier, Toyah will be lifting the lid on working in the entertainment business.

She will be joined by guitarists Chris Wong and Colin Hinds.

Toyah has had 13 top 40 singles, recorded 20 albums, written two books, appeared in more than 40 stage plays, made 10 feature films as well as presenting the likes of The Good Sex Guide Late, Watchdog and Songs Of Praise.

Her career began in Birmingham in the late 1970s when film director Derek Jarman offered her the role of Mad in seminal punk epic Jubilee.

By this time her own band was gaining critical success with the debut single Victims of the Riddle and six track EP Sheep Farming in Barnet. Her first album, The Blue Meaning, became a Top 40 hit.

Over the next two decades, as well as consolidating her reputation as a singer songwriter Toyah also forged ahead with a career as a stage performer.

During the 1990s, Toyah transformed from pop star to new wave star.

With her husband Robert Fripp, she formed the band Sunday All Over the World, which toured world-wide.

2000 saw the publication of her autobiography Living Out Loud and she returned to song writing in 2002 with new material for a limited-edition EP.

In 2008 Toyah released the LP The Court Of The Crimson Queen, written and produced in collaboration with Simon Darlow.

Alongside this, Toyah began a collaboration with Bill Rieflin and Chris Wong on the band project, The Humans who released their debut album, We Are The Humans, in 2009.

Toyah headlines the Roadmender on Saturday, April 6.

Doors open at 7.30pm, tickets cost £22 before fees.

One of the great British instrumentalists of his generation, James Taylor is bringing his quartet to The Picturedrome.

Taylor has taken his trademark howling Hammond sound to the masses for more than 25 years.

The band released their latest album Soundtrack from Electric Black at the end of last year.

After the collapse of mod legends The Prisoners in the 1980s, Taylor recorded some demos with brother David on guitar and a drummer, playing music similar to the rare-groove jazz-funk then in vogue around London.

By the early 90s, that movement had spawned acid jazz and the JTQ found itself at the forefront of a vibrant young club scene and it wasn’t long before the first single, Blow Up, had been released, the band were in the studio rehearsing for the Mission Impossible EP, gigs were booked and the late great John Peel was offering a session.

In the early 1990s, the single Love The Life reached the Top 40, and the accompanying album, Supernatural Feeling, settled in the Top 30 UK charts.

In 1997 Taylor was asked to score the theme tune to Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

The James Taylor Quartet headline the Northampton venue on Saturday, April 6.

Support is by DJ Crip. Doors open at 8pm, tickets cost £17 before fees.

Tickets are available via www.thepadpresents.com

The work to transform the former BHS retail unit at St James Retail Park is nearing completion and will be officially open at 9am on Friday, April 12, creating over 80 part-time and full-time jobs, from store and department managers to warehouse workers and retail assistants.

The new store will provide a wide variety of products across 16 departments spread across two floors, including DIY, kitchen and dining, arts and crafts and a patio section.

Chris Dawson, the owner and founder of The Range, said: “Each store plays an important part in the success of our company and Northampton is no exception. This site has been on the radar for some time and we are delighted to replace the former BHS with a new national retailer in the town.

“We are very lucky with the staff we have and I look forward to welcoming the new team members to the company. I would like to invite the local community to join us for the opening next week and discover the fantastic selection of products that we offer."

The new store in Northampton will also include a family café, an outdoor garden centre and the complete Iceland Foods offering.

The grand opening will begin with giveaways for the first 50 people in the queue, including 'a star prize' for the first in line.

There will be some fantastic opening offers running across departments until April, 28 with some great deals to choose from.

The celebrations are set to continue over the weekend, with free craft demos including face-painting by Snazaroo on Saturday, April 13 from 11am to 4pm and crafts on Saturday 13 April, from 10am to 4pm.

A spokesman for Iceland said the store has no plans for other Iceland shop closures as a result of The Range store opening.

Store opening hours: Monday – Saturday 9am – 8pm, Sunday 11am – 5pm.

Striker Marvin Sordell admits he can ‘get a lot better’ and remains determined to show Cobblers fans his ‘true ability’ before the end of the season as he looks to fend off further injury trouble.

Nine weeks, five starts and no goals into his loan spell, it would be fair to say Northampton supporters are yet to see the best of the former Bolton, Burnley and Charlton Athletic striker.

Recruited by Keith Curle as a last-ditch, deadline-day signing from Burton Albion in January, Sordell was brought in with the intention of adding some extra firepower to a faltering Cobblers attack.

But it hasn’t quite worked out as planned. Yet to score, and yet to make a significant impression, the 28-year-old’s season continues to be blighted by injury, though he did at least complete 90 minutes against Port Vale on Saturday, the first time he’s done so in a league game since playing in Burton’s 2-1 defeat at Wycombe at the start of October.

“It’s been a long time since I last completed a game,” Sordell admitted. “So I’m just enjoying being fit and being back playing.

“I had a knee injury. It was eventually diagnosed as a grade one medial tear. It’s difficult being out for long periods of time, especially when you’re not sure what the cause of the injury is, but I’m back fit and hopefully I can build on Saturday.”

Curle’s decision to sign Sordell was a gamble given the striker’s injury record this season and it only took 65 minutes of his first game, against Colchester on February 2, for his troublesome knee to strike again.

“It was the exact same injury,” he explained. “When I came here I wasn’t fully fit and I played a game and it went OK but my knee flared up again so I had to take some time to get to the root of the problem and fix it and go from there.

“It’s no different from any other footballer – everyone in this industry started out because you love the game and eventually it becomes your career at some point.

“The love of the game doesn’t change. You want to play and you want to be out there on the pitch as opposed to being in the stands or on the bench or in the physio room.”

Having played the full 90 in Saturday’s defeat to Vale, Sordell is desperate to show Cobblers fans that he has much more to offer over the remaining six games of the season.

“I’m hoping to get a lot better,” he added. “Saturday was my first 90 minutes in about five or six months and I spent four months of those out.

“So it’s good to be back playing and hopefully, before the end of the season, I can show the fans my true ability.”

The footpath between the Market Square and Sheep Street was the setting of FAMfest on Saturday (March 30) - the culmination of months of work by community group NorFAMton to renovate the underpass and make a new home for street art and town centre events.

Detectives investigating the murder of Wellingborough man Shane Fox have today made a further arrest in connection with the inquiry.

A 36-year-old man from Wellingborough was arrested this morning (Tuesday, April 2) on suspicion of murder and is currently in police custody.

Shane, 26, died as a result of a stab wound to the chest after being assaulted near his home on the Hemmingwell estate, Wellingborough, shortly after 2am, on Saturday, December 1, 2018.

Detectives have previously made two arrests in connection with the investigation.

A 39-year-old man from Wellingborough was arrested on December 2 on suspicion of murder and released without charge.

A 22-year-old man, also from Wellingborough, was arrested on December 5 on suspicion of murder. He was released under investigation pending further inquiries.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information that may assist the inquiry is urged to contact the Operation Talbot incident room on 101 as soon as possible.

Information can also be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Police are re-appealing for help to locate a 26-year-old man from Wellingborough, who they would like to speak to in connection with an investigation into an assault.

The man, or anyone who has seen him or knows of his whereabouts, is asked to call Northamptonshire Police on 101, quoting reference number 19000128858.

The police are still not naming the man.

They can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.